Method and apparatus for operating user interface and recording medium using the same

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for operating a user interface, and a recording medium using the same are provided. First, a plurality of user interfaces is provided and one of them is displayed on a touch screen of a portable electronic device. Then, the touch screen is used for detecting a touch signal. When the touch signal is moved toward a first direction, the currently displayed user interface is switched to another one. When the touch signal is moved toward a second direction, an item of the currently displayed user interface is switched to another item. Accordingly, a more intuitive and convenient manner for operating the user interface is provided for the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan applicationserial no. 97114688, filed on Apr. 22, 2008. The entirety of theabove-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by referenceherein and made a part of specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE APPLICATION

1. Field of the Application

The present application relates to a method and an apparatus forswitching a user interface, in particular, to a method and an apparatusfor respectively switching the user interface and the items using arepresentational icon bar and an item icon bar.

2. Description of Related Art

In order to cater for the busy life of modern people, various portableelectronic devices that occupy smaller space and are convenient to carryalong are put forward one after another. For example, Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA) phones not only provide with all functions of aconventional communication device but also enable the user to editfiles, receive/send emails, access networks, or use instantcommunication software through a built-in windows operating system. Thatis to say, such portable electronic devices may be used for not onlymaking phone calls but also providing diversified functions just likemini personal computers. For modern people seeking for efficiency allthe time, such devices have been one of the tools that are indispensablein the life.

However, for portable electronic devices requiring for “light, thin,short, and small,” the volume is considerably limited. If both a screenand a keypad are needed to be disposed on the device, the size of thescreen must be reduced. Meanwhile, in order to equip a relatively largescreen in a limited space, recently, a touch screen has been developed.The touch screen integrates the keypad as the input interface of theportable electronic device, thus saving the cost and area occupied bythe conventional keypad.

As compared with the conventional keypad input manner, the operatingmanner of a touch screen is simple and intuitive. From the comparisonwith the conventional keypad, it can be easily found that when operatingan electronic device with a keypad, the user must read the contentdisplayed on the screen while pressing the keypad, so as to successfullyfinish operations such as word inputting or menu switching. However, ifa touch screen is applied in the electronic device, the user can easilyfinish various operations by simply clicking with a stylus or directlypressing with his finger on the screen. Therefore, the touch screen isactually a more convenient input manner.

However, the touch screen of the portable electronic device is stilllimited in size, whereas the portable electronic device has fairlydiversified functions. In order to display items of a number offunctions on a limited screen for the user to choose, the cell phonescurrently available on the market mostly adopt a graphical userinterface which uses thumbnail icons arranged in the touch screen torepresent all the functions.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a conventional graphical userinterface. Referring to FIG. 1, in a graphical user interface 100, thetouch screen is divided into multiple display blocks respectivelydisplaying representational icons including a Home 110, a contactfunction 120, a message function 130, an email function 140, a camerafunction 150, a music function 160, a network function 170, a weatherfunction 180, a setting function 190, or the like. Although the abovemanner enables the user to clearly see all the functions of the portableelectronic device, once the user chooses to enter an operation interfacecorresponding to a representational icon, only one function can beperformed, and if the user wants to switch to another function, he/shemust return to the original graphical user interface 100 to chooseanother representational icons, which is quite inconvenient in use.

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION

Accordingly, the present application provides a method for operating auser interface, which achieves the switch between the user interfaces orthe items in the user interface according to the direction of thetouch-and-drag motion by the user.

The present application provides an apparatus for operating a userinterface, which displays a representational icon bar and an item iconbar through different modules to provide convenience and flexibility forthe user to operate the user interface.

As broadly described and embodied herein, the present applicationprovides a method for operating a user interface adapted to a portableelectronic device with a touch screen, which comprises the followingsteps. First, a plurality of user interfaces is provided and one of theuser interfaces is displayed on the touch screen. Then, the touch screendetects a touch signal. When the touch signal is moved toward a firstdirection, the currently displayed user interface is switched to anotheruser interface, and when the touch signal is moved toward a seconddirection, an item in the currently displayed user interface is switchedto another item. The first direction and the second direction aresubstantially perpendicular to each other. In an embodiment of thepresent application, the above first direction is left or right and thesecond direction is up or down.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above operating methodfurther comprises displaying a representational icon bar on a firstmargin of the user interface and displaying an item icon bar on a secondmargin of the user interface. The representational icon bar comprisesrepresentational icons respectively corresponding to each of the userinterfaces and the item icon bar comprises item icons respectivelycorresponding to a plurality of items in the currently displayed userinterface.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above operating methodfurther comprises moving the representational icon bar toward the firstdirection or a direction opposite to the first direction when the touchsignal is moved toward the first direction, and moving the item icon bartoward the second direction or a direction opposite to the seconddirection when the touch signal is moved toward the second direction.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above representationalicon bar is displayed in the first direction and the item icon bar isdisplayed in the second direction.

In an embodiment of the present application, the step of displaying therepresentational icon bar on the first margin of the user interfacecomprises displaying a magnified representational icon corresponding tothe currently displayed user interface in the representational icon bar.The step of displaying the item icon bar on the second margin of theuser interface comprises displaying a magnified item icon correspondingto the currently displayed item in the currently displayed userinterface in the item icon bar.

In an embodiment of the present application, the step of detecting thetouch signal by the touch screen further comprises determining whether adisplacement of the touch signal exceeds a preset value, and switchingthe user interface or the item when the displacement exceeds the presetvalue. The displacement comprises a horizontal displacement or avertical displacement.

In an embodiment of the present application, the representational iconbar is displayed on an upper part or a lower part of the user interfaceand the item icon bar is displayed on a left part or a right part of theuser interface.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above portableelectronic device comprises a PDA or a PDA phone.

The present application provides an apparatus for operating a userinterface, which comprises a touch screen, a user interface displaymodule, and a switch module. The touch screen is used to detect a touchsignal. The user interface display module is used to display one of theuser interfaces on the touch screen. The switch module is used toselectively switch the user interface or the item according to the touchsignal detected by the touch screen. The currently displayed userinterface is switched to another user interface when the touch signal ismoved toward a first direction, and the item in the currently displayeduser interface is switched when the touch signal is moved toward asecond direction. The first direction and the second direction aresubstantially perpendicular to each other. In an embodiment of thepresent application, the first direction is left or right and the seconddirection is up or down.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above operatingapparatus further comprises a representational icon bar display moduleand an item icon bar display module. The representational icon bardisplay module is used to display the representational icon bar on afirst margin of the user interface, wherein the representational iconbar comprises a representational icon corresponding to each of the userinterfaces. The item icon bar display module is used to display the itemicon bar on a second margin of the user interface, wherein the item iconbar comprises item icons respectively corresponding to a plurality ofitems in the currently displayed user interface.

In an embodiment of the present application, when the touch signal ismoved toward the first direction, the switch module further moves therepresentational icon bar toward the first direction or a directionopposite to the first direction. When the touch signal is moved towardthe second direction, the switch module further moves the item icon bartoward the second direction or a direction opposite to the seconddirection.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above representationalicon bar is displayed in the first direction and the item icon bar isdisplayed in the second direction.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above representationalicon bar display module further comprises displaying a magnifiedrepresentational icon corresponding to the currently displayed userinterface in the representational icon bar, and the item icon bardisplay module further comprises displaying a magnified item iconcorresponding to the currently displayed item in the currently displayeduser interface in the item icon bar.

In an embodiment of the present application, the above switch modulefurther determines whether the displacement of the touch signal exceedsa preset value, and switches the user interface or the item when thedisplacement exceeds the preset value. The displacement comprises ahorizontal displacement or a vertical displacement.

The present application provides a recording medium for recording acomputer program including a plurality of program codes adapted to beloaded into a portable electronic device to enable the above portableelectronic device to perform a method for operating a user interface.The method comprises the following steps. First, a plurality of userinterfaces is provided and one of the user interfaces is displayed onthe touch screen. Then, the touch screen detects a touch signal. Whenthe touch signal is moved toward a first direction, the currentlydisplayed user interface is switched to another user interface, and whenthe touch signal is moved toward a second direction, an item in thecurrently displayed user interface is switched to another item. Thefirst direction and the second direction are substantially perpendicularto each other.

The present application achieves the switch between a plurality of userinterfaces or a plurality of items in a single user interface throughdragging actions in different directions. In this way, the user mayswiftly switch the user interface and the item in the user interface bydragging in horizontal or vertical direction on the touch screen.

To make the above and other objectives, features, and advantages of thepresent application more apparent, a detail description with respect tothe embodiments are made below in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the application, and are incorporated in and constitutea part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theapplication and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the application.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a conventional graphical userinterface.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method for operating a user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present application.

FIGS. 3( a), 3(b), and 3(c) show schematic views of a method foroperating a user interface according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a representational icon bar accordingto an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of an item icon bar according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of a representational icon bar and an itemicon bar displayed on the touch screen according to an embodiment of thepresent application.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method for operating a user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present application.

FIGS. 8( a), 8(b), and 8(c) show schematics view of a method foroperating a user interface according to an embodiment of the presentapplication.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for operating a userinterface according to an embodiment of the present application.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A portable electronic device has plenty of functions, each function hasa corresponding user interface, and a user interface may further containa plurality of items. Therefore, in order to enable a user to freelyswitch between the user interfaces and the items, the presentapplication achieves the switch between the user interfaces or the itemsin the user interface in the portable electronic device by dragging inhorizontal and vertical directions, thereby improving the convenienceand flexibility in operating the user interface. The present applicationis a method and an apparatus for operating a user interface and arecording medium using the same based on the above concept. To make thecontent of the present application more apparent, the followingembodiments are illustrated as examples for implementation of thepresent application.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method for operating a user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG.2, this embodiment is adapted to a portable electronic device with atouch screen, and the portable electronic device may be, but not limitedto, a PDA or a PDA phone.

First, the portable electronic device provides a plurality of userinterfaces, and displays one of the user interfaces on the touch screen(Step S210). The user interfaces respectively correspond to a functionof the portable electronic device, and the user interface displayed onthe touch screen is, for example, but not limited to, the preset userinterface of the portable electronic device or the user interface thatis recently used by the user in this embodiment.

Then, the portable electronic device detects the touch signal from theuser with the touch screen (Step S220). When the touch screen detectsthe touch signal that is moved toward a first direction, the portableelectronic device switches the currently displayed user interface toanother user interface (Step S230). On the other hand, when the touchscreen detects the touch signal that is moved toward a second direction,the portable electronic device switches the items in the currentlydisplayed user interface (Step S240). The above first direction andsecond direction are substantially perpendicular to each other.Preferably, the first direction is a horizontal direction and the seconddirection is a vertical direction. More preferably, the first directionis left or right and the second direction is up or down.

It should be noted that this embodiment further comprises determiningwhether to switch the user interface or the item according to thedisplacement of the touch signal. More particularly, if the user touchesthe screen by way of dragging, the touch screen will detect a continualtouch signal. That is to say, the touch signal has a displacement. Atthis time, the portable electronic device further determines whether thedisplacement of the touch signal exceeds a preset value and switches theuser interface when the displacement exceeds the preset value. The abovedisplacement is, for example, a horizontal displacement or a verticaldisplacement.

For example, FIGS. 3( a), 3(b), and 3(c) show schematic views of amethod for operating a user interface according to an embodiment of thepresent application. Referring to FIG. 3( a) first, in this embodiment,a user interface 310 corresponding to the contact function is displayedin advance on a touch screen 300 of the portable electronic device andthe contact information of a preset contact (i.e. Kathleen) is displayedin the user interface 310.

At this time, if the user touches the user interface 310 and slides tothe right exceeding a preset value, the touch screen 300 will detect atouch signal 1, and the portable electronic device then switch the userinterface 310 to the user interface 320 of a next function (e.g.,message function) (as shown in FIG. 3( b)).

By contrast, if the user touches the user interface 310 and slidesdownwardly exceeding a preset value, the touch screen 300 will detect atouch signal 2, and the portable electronic device then changes thecontact information of the contact displayed on the user interface 310into the contact information of a next contact (i.e. Bruce) (as shown inFIG. 3( c)).

The operating manner provided by the above embodiment enables the userto freely switch between various functions of the portable electronicdevice and the items at will while eliminating complex operatingactions.

On the other hand, the present application further comprisesrespectively designing a representational icon bar and an item icon baraccording to various user interfaces of the portable electronic deviceand the items in each user interface, so as to provide another mannerfor the user to switch the user interfaces and the items, which will bedescribed in detail with another embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a representational icon bar accordingto an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 4, inthis embodiment, all the functions of the portable electronic device arerepresented by a representational icon bar 400. The representationalicon bar 400 comprises a plurality of representational icons, which areHome 410, contact function 420, message function 430, email function440, camera function 450, music function 460, network function 470,weather function 480, and setting function 490 sequentially. The numberand content of the representational icons in the representational iconbar 400 are illustrated only by way of example without intending tolimit the scope of the present application. Those skilled in the art mayallocate different types or numbers of representational icons in therepresentational icon bar 400.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of an item icon baraccording to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG.5, in this embodiment, the contact function of the portable electronicdevice is illustrated as an example. All the contacts are represented byan item icon bar 500. The item icon bar 500 comprises a plurality ofitem icons, which are contact 510, contact 520, contact 530, contact540, and contact 550 sequentially. Likewise, the number of contacts isdescribed only as an example without intending to limit the scope of thepresent application.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of a representational icon bar andan item icon bar displayed on the touch screen according to anembodiment of the present application. Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6,in this embodiment, the preset function of the portable electronicdevice is assumed to be the contact function and the preset contact inthe contact function is assumed to be the contact 510. At this time, theportable electronic device displays the user interface 610 of thecontact function on the touch screen 600, displays the representationalicon bar 400 on the lower part of the user interface 610 and displaysthe item icon bar 500 on the right part of the user interface 610. Thepositions of the representational icon bar 400 and item icon bar 500 aredescribed by way of example without intending to limit the scope of thepresent application. Those skilled in the art may choose to display therepresentational icon bar 400 and the item icon bar 500 on other marginsof the user interface 610 (upper, lower, left, and right) depending onpractical requirements.

Since the touch screen 600 has a limited space, only the first fiverepresentational icons in the representational icon bar 400 can bedisplayed in the touch screen 600, including Home 410, contact function420, message function 430, email function 440, and camera function 450.Similarly, only five contacts can be displayed in the item icon bar 500.The representational icon for the contact function 420 and the item iconfor the contact 510 are displayed, e.g., magnified to remind the user ofthe currently selected function and contact. Here, if the user clicksother representational icons in the representational icon bar 400, theportable electronic device will switch the user interface 610 to theuser interface corresponding to the representational icon. Furthermore,if the user clicks other item icons in the item icon bar, the portableelectronic device will display the contact information corresponding tothe item icon in the user interface 610.

Based on the designed architecture of the representational icon bar anditem icon bar, the present application provides a correspondingoperating method to achieve the switch between the functions and thecontacts, so as to help the user to swiftly switch the user interfaceand the items, which is described in detail with another embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method for operating a user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG.7, this embodiment is adapted to a portable electronic device with atouch screen, and the portable electronic device may be, for example,but not limited to, a PDA or a PDA phone.

First, the portable electronic device provides a plurality of userinterfaces, and displays one of the user interfaces on the touch screen(Step S710). The user interfaces respectively correspond to a functionof the portable electronic device, and the user interface displayed onthe touch screen is, for example, but not limited to, the preset userinterface of the portable electronic device or the user interface thatis recently used by the user in this embodiment.

Then, the portable electronic device displays a representational iconbar on a first margin of the user interface (Step S720) and therepresentational icon bar comprises representational icons respectivelycorresponding to each of the user interfaces. Meanwhile, the portableelectronic device may display an item icon bar on a second margin of theuser interface (Step S730) and the item icon bar comprises item iconsrespectively corresponding to a plurality of items in the userinterface.

In detail, the number of the representational icons contained in therepresentational icon bar is determined, e.g., depending on the numberof the built-in functions of the portable electronic device. Thepatterns of the representational icons are selected from the patternsrelated to the functions, so as to help the user to swiftly browse allthe functions in the portable electronic device. For example, a patternof house represents Home, a pattern of character represents the contactfunction, and a pattern of letter represents the email function, and soon.

Similarly, the number of the item icons contained in the item icon baris determined depending on the number of items contained in the built-infunctions of the portable electronic device. The patterns of the itemicons are selected from the patterns related to the items, so as to helpthe user to swiftly browse all the items. For example, a downsizedpicture of a contact may be used to represent the contact.

After that, the portable electronic device may use the touch screen todetect the touch signal from the user (Step S740). When the touch screendetects the touch signal that is moved toward a first direction, theportable electronic device switches the currently displayed userinterface to another user interface (Step S750).

In detail, if the user only clicks the representational icon, the touchscreen only detects a single point of the touch signal. At this time, inaddition to switching the user interface according to therepresentational icon that the touch signal resides, therepresentational icon is magnified to remind the user of therepresentational icon currently clicked.

However, if the user touches the screen by way of dragging, the touchscreen will detect a continual touch signal. That is to say, the touchsignal has a displacement. At this time, the portable electronic devicemay further determine whether the displacement of the touch signalexceeds a preset value, and switches the user interface when thedisplacement exceeds the preset value. The above displacement is, e.g.,a horizontal displacement or a vertical displacement.

For example, if the representational icon bar is horizontally displayedon the touch screen, when the user wants to switch the representationalicon, he/she may intuitively operate by dragging in horizontaldirection. Then, the portable electronic device may determine whether toswitch the user interface depending on the value of the horizontaldisplacement. In addition, when the portable electronic device switchesthe user interface, the representational icon bar is also moved toward adirection same as or opposite to the movement of the touch signal. Thatis to say, the touching or dragging direction of the user is the same asor opposite to the direction of movement of the representational iconbar.

In another case, when the touch signal is moved toward a seconddirection, the portable electronic device switches the item in thecurrently displayed user interface (Step S760). Similar to the case ofthe representational icon bar, if the user only clicks the item icon,the portable electronic device will switch the item based on the itemicon on which the touch signal resides and magnify the item icon. If theuser touches the screen by way of dragging, the portable electronicdevice will further determine whether the displacement of the touchsignal exceeds a preset value and switch the item in the user interfaceonly when the displacement exceeds the preset value.

The purpose of arranging the representational icon bar and the item iconbar on different margins of the user interface is to differentiate thetouching actions of the user. The user may intuitively considerhorizontal dragging and vertical dragging as two different operatingactions, and thus by associating the two operating actions with therepresentational icon bar and the item icon bar respectively, the usermay operate the user interface more fluently.

For example, FIGS. 8( a), 8(b), and 8(c) show schematic views of amethod for operating a user interface according to an embodiment of thepresent application. Referring to FIG. 8( a) first, in this embodiment,the user interface 810, the first five representational icons (ninerepresentational icons in total) in the representational icon bar 400,and the five contacts in the item icon bar 500 are displayed in advanceon the touch screen 800 of the portable electronic device, and thecontact function 420 is set as the preset function and the contact 510is set as the preset contact.

Now, if the user touches the user interface 810 and slides to the rightwith a displacement exceeding a preset value, the touch screen 800 willdetect a touch signal 1. At this time, the portable electronic devicemay switch the user interface 810 originally displayed on the touchscreen 800 to the user interface 820 corresponding to the messagefunction 430. At the same time, the portable electronic devicerelatively moves the representational icon bar 400, thus switching thecontact function 420 to the message function 430 (as shown in FIG. 8(b)). Accordingly, the user may use the user interface 820 to read orreceive/send messages.

On the other hand, if the user touches the user interface 810 and slidesdownwardly with a displacement exceeding a preset value, the touchscreen 800 will detect a touch signal 2. At this time, the portableelectronic device switches the contact information of the contact 510originally displayed on the user interface 810 to the contactinformation of the contact 520. At the same time, the portableelectronic device also changes the enlarged item icon into the contact520, thereby switching the contact 510 to the contact 520 (as shown inFIG. 8( c)).

The operating manner provided by the above embodiment enables the userto freely switch between various functions of the portable electronicdevice and the items at will while eliminating complex operatingactions.

It should be noted that in another embodiment of the presentapplication, the above operating method is realized in a physicalapparatus, which is described in detail with another embodiment. FIG. 9shows a block diagram of an apparatus for operating a user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG.9, the operating apparatus 900 in this embodiment is, e.g., disposed ina portable electronic device such as a PDA or a PDA phone for operatingthe user interface. The operating apparatus 900 comprises a touch screen910, a user interface display module 920, a representational icon bardisplay module 930, an item icon bar display module 940, and a switchmodule 950, and the functions thereof are described as follows.

The touch screen 910 is used to detect the touching action of the userand generate the corresponding touch signal. The user interface displaymodule 920 is used to display one of the user interfaces on the touchscreen 910. The representational icon bar display module 930 is used todisplay a representational icon bar on the touch screen 910, and therepresentational icon bar comprises representational icons respectivelycorresponding to each of the user interfaces. Similarly, the item iconbar display module 940 is used to display an item icon bar on the touchscreen 910 and the item icon bar comprises the item icons respectivelycorresponding to a plurality of items in the user interface.

Through the operations of the above three modules, the operatingapparatus 900 may display three items, i.e. the user interface, therepresentational icon bar, and the item icon bar, on the touch screen910. At this time, the switch module 950 further switches the userinterface and the item displayed on the touch screen 910 according tothe touch signal detected by the touch screen 910 and moves therepresentational icon bar and the item icon bar to correspondingpositions.

When the touch signal is moved toward the first direction, the switchmodule 950 switches the user interface displayed by the user interfacedisplay module 920 accordingly and relatively moves the representationalicon bar displayed by the representational icon bar display module 930.The switch module 950 further determines whether the displacement of thetouch signal exceeds a preset value, and switches the user interface andmoves the representational icon bar when the displacement exceeds thepreset value. The displacement comprises a horizontal displacement or avertical displacement.

On the other hand, when the touch signal is moved toward a seconddirection, the switch module 950 switches the item in the user interfacedisplayed by the user interface display module 920 and relatively movesthe item icon bar displayed by the item icon bar display module 940. Theswitch module 950 further determines whether the displacement of thetouch signal exceeds a preset value, and switches the item in the userinterface and moves the item icon bar only when the displacement exceedsthe preset value.

It should be noted that when the touch screen 910 detects the touchsignal, the representational icon bar display module 930 and the itemicon bar display module 940 further include displaying a magnifiedrepresentational icon or item icon depending on the currently displayeduser interface or item so as to remind the user of the representationalicon or item icon currently clicked. In addition, the representationalicon bar and the item icon is determined to move toward a direction sameas or opposite to the movement of the touch signal.

In addition, the present application further provides a recording mediumsuch as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, and a removable hard disk,which records computer-readable authority sign-off program to performthe above method for operating a user interface. Here, the authoritysign-off program recorded on the recording medium is basically comprisedof a plurality of program code segments, such as the program codesegments for establishing an organization chart, the program codesegments for form sign-off, the program code segments for setting, andthe program code segments for deployment, and the functions of suchprogram code segments correspond to the steps of the above operatingmethod and the functional block diagram of the above operatingapparatus.

In summary, in the method and apparatus for operating a user interfaceand recording medium using the same according to the presentapplication, it is determined whether to switch the user interface orthe item therein through touching actions in different directions, andthe representational icon bar and the item icon bar are arranged ondifferent margins of the user interface so as to provide a moreintuitive and convenient manner for the user to operate the userinterface.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentapplication without departing from the scope or spirit of theapplication. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the presentapplication cover modifications and variations of this applicationprovided they fall within the scope of the following claims and theirequivalents.

1. A method for operating a user interface, adapted to a portableelectronic device with a touch screen, comprising: providing a pluralityof user interfaces and displaying one of the user interfaces on thetouch screen; detecting a touch signal by the touch screen; switching acurrently displayed user interface to another user interface when thetouch signal is moved toward a first direction; and switching an item inthe currently displayed user interface to another item when the touchsignal is moved toward a second direction, wherein the first directionand the second direction are substantially perpendicular to each other.2. The method for operating a user interface according to claim 1,further comprising: displaying a representational icon bar on a firstmargin of the user interface, wherein the representational icon barcomprises a plurality of representational icons respectivelycorresponding to each of the user interfaces.
 3. The method foroperating a user interface according to claim 2, further comprising:displaying an item icon bar on a second margin of the user interface,wherein the item icon bar comprises a plurality of item iconsrespectively corresponding to each of the items in the user interface.4. The method for operating a user interface according to claim 3,further comprising: moving the representational icon bar toward thefirst direction when the touch signal is moved toward the firstdirection.
 5. The method for operating a user interface according toclaim 3, further comprising: moving the representational icon bar towarda direction opposite to the first direction when the touch signal ismoved toward the first direction.
 6. The method for operating a userinterface according to claim 3, further comprising: moving the item iconbar toward the second direction when the touch signal is moved towardthe second direction.
 7. The method for operating a user interfaceaccording to claim 3, wherein the process of displaying therepresentational icon bar on the first margin of the user interfacecomprises: displaying a magnified representational icon corresponding tothe currently displayed user interface in the representational icon bar.8. The method for operating a user interface according to claim 3,wherein the process of displaying the item icon bar on the second marginof the user interface comprises: displaying a magnified item iconcorresponding to the currently displayed item in the currently displayeduser interface in the item icon bar.
 9. The method for operating a userinterface according to claim 3, wherein the representational icon bar isdisplayed on an upper part or a lower part of the user interface; andthe item icon bar is displayed on a left part or a right part of theuser interface.
 10. The method for operating a user interface accordingto claim 1, wherein the first direction is left or right; and the seconddirection is up or down.
 11. The method for operating a user interfaceaccording to claim 1, wherein the process of detecting the touch signalby the touch screen further comprises: determining whether adisplacement of the touch signal exceeds a preset value; and switchingthe user interface or the item when the displacement exceeds the presetvalue.
 12. An apparatus for operating a user interface, comprising: atouch screen, adapted to detect a touch signal; a user interface displaymodule, adapted to display one of a plurality of user interfaces on thetouch screen; a switch module, adapted to selectively switch the userinterface or an item according to the touch signal detected by the touchscreen, wherein the currently displayed user interface is switched toanother user interface when the touch signal is moved toward a firstdirection; and an item in the currently displayed user interface isswitched to another item when the touch signal is moved toward a seconddirection, wherein the first direction and the second direction aresubstantially perpendicular to each other.
 13. The apparatus foroperating a user interface according to claim 12, further comprising: arepresentational icon bar display module, adapted to display arepresentational icon bar on a first margin of the user interface,wherein the representational icon bar comprises a plurality ofrepresentational icons respectively corresponding to each of the userinterfaces.
 14. The apparatus for operating a user interface accordingto claim 13, further comprising: an item icon bar display module,adapted to display an item icon bar on a second margin of the userinterface, wherein the item icon bar comprises a plurality of item iconsrespectively corresponding to each of the items in the user interface.15. The apparatus for operating a user interface according to claim 13,wherein the switch module further comprising: moving therepresentational icon bar toward a direction opposite to the firstdirection when the touch signal is moved toward the first direction. 16.The apparatus for operating a user interface according to claim 13,wherein the representational icon bar is displayed in the firstdirection and the item icon bar is displayed in the second direction.17. The apparatus for operating a user interface according to claim 13,wherein the representational icon bar display module further comprisesdisplaying a magnified representational icon corresponding to thecurrently displayed user interface in the representational icon bar. 18.The apparatus for operating a user interface according to claim 13,wherein the item icon bar display module further comprises displaying amagnified item icon corresponding to the currently displayed item in thecurrently displayed user interface in the item icon bar.
 19. Theapparatus for operating a user interface according to claim 12, whereinthe first direction is right or left; and the second direction is up ordown.
 20. A recording medium for recording a computer program, thecomputer program comprising a plurality of program codes adapted to beloaded into a portable electronic device to enable the portableelectronic device to perform the method for operating a user interfaceaccording to claim 1.